06 Rogue and Remedy

It was before dawn when it all happened.

From Chastine’s break out of prison, to Juste’s shocking plan of escape, light hadn’t come out yet to greet them in full view.

The chilly air of nighttime, coupled with ice cold waters, turned Chastine’s body to shiver mad.

It had hit her severely because she had been wearing flimsy clothing.

Juste might be wholly to blame. He didn’t think carefully enough that witborns have weak constitution compared to them fellhounds.

Female fellhounds, a.k.a. werewolves, can withstand such low temperature. And with his clan adapting to mountain weather, they were quite a strong lot against chilly winds and waters.

Not Chastine.

She’s a normal human being, untainted by supernatural physical or mental gifts.

Hers was an intellectual gift, but if she miscalculates, she would succumb to problems similar to what she was dealing with right now.

She didn't know they will be swimming in a cold river pass midnight.

Juste was taking responsibility for his own recklessness. He was bound to keep Chastine not only alive, but at the pink of her health.

He greatly owed the frail human a favor. He had used her wits, her body and whatever strength she had just so he could fulfill his goal.

But this is not his only reason for making sure she wakes up.

Even for a little while, he had grown such fondness for the strong-willed witborn. He found Chastine’s form and character alluring.

Juste was leaning his back against a stocky tree. The foot of the tree had a small hollow, fit enough for him to squeeze himself in while hugging Chastine tightly in his arms.

The area they were sitting on was covered with leaves. The leaves were serving little warmth and cover for them.

As the young werewolf was waiting for the young human to wake up, he himself dozed off, probably from staying up all night.

Hours passed and morning came. The chirping of birds can be heard throughout the forest.

Chastine’s eyes slowly pried open. She was awakened to the sound of their crooning.

Gathering some sense into her surroundings, she was then shocked at the position they were in.

She noticed her body without a hint of clothing. She was completely naked.

And she also noticed Juste without clothes.

The most scandalous part of it was that Juste had wrapped his arms around her, and tightly at that.

He also locked his finger onto hers. They look like a couple that had just made love to one another.

While it was true that they had s*x, it was mostly out of necessity instead from heated passion.

Chastine’s knee-jerk reaction was to release herself from Juste’s embrace. She then was rummaging through the pile of fallen leaves, looking for her slightly damp dress.

Juste started to become conscious, lazily opening his eyes as he sensed some commotion around him.

He started to realize what was going on. As he predicted Chastine about to react loudly, he quickly put his palm over her mouth.

With his other hand gesturing a quiet sign, he whispered, “shh! They might hear us. What’s the problem?”

Chastine wanted to scream at the top of her lungs: one, to release her shocked emotion at their scandalous position, and two, so that Juste’s eardrums would split into two, for some kind of retaliation.

Unfortunately, she wasn’t able to do so. Instead, she just began to whisper out her feelings towards her savior-turned-harasser.

“You maniac,” she continued in a hushed but angry voice, “what are you trying to do now? Are you really using me for your urges?”

“What the hell? Didn’t it occur to you that you were quivering like crazy because you were cold?” Juste added, “I stripped you off of your wet clothes and mine to preserve our body heat.”

“You could have set up a fire to keep us warm.” Chastine felt much violated.

“Are you kidding me?” Juste couldn’t believe her dumb reason. Then it occurred to him that she wasn’t accustomed to living outside the walls of human cities.

He snickered. “Ahaha, I thought you were clever, Chastine.”

Being a witborn, as the word implies, she was greatly insulted at Juste’s comment.

“Hah, if it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t be were you are right now.”

“Uhm, naked?” It was Juste’s mocking answer.

She was irritated. “Outside your castle, away from your clan, remember?”

“And still naked,” Juste proudly stated the obvious.

Chastine gave up reasoning with Juste’s mockery. She began to distance herself away from him to dress herself up, even if her clothing was still a little damp.

Juste did the same. He grabbed his pants from the fertile ground, suited it up, and went for the rest of his garb.

Juste couldn’t help but be thoughtful of Chastine’s flimsy gown. So he went near her and offered his coat to Chastine.

“Uhm, Chastine?” While not looking at her direction, he reached out his hand to her, the one holding the coat. “Here, this could be of use to you.”

Chastine was a bit shy at Juste’s offer. She hesitated a bit but grabbed the coat from his hand.

She wore the black coat, looking oversized for her little body. “…thanks. And for saving me from hypothermia.”

“No biggie. Actually, I'm to blame for it.” He was still facing the opposite direction of Chastine. “Sorry. And I should be the one thanking you.”

Her irritation towards Juste died down.

Chastine found that it was her turn to joke around. “I can’t hear you, Juste, turn around and say that again.”

“Forget it.” He detected the mockery in her words. Chastine started to giggle.

She then went by Juste’s side asking, “So, where to?”

They started to walk around.

Chastine continued on with her query, “why did you want to runaway? I think I have the right to know.”

Just stayed quiet for a moment. He then replied to Chastine’s answer. “You heard me back at the bridge. I don’t want to eat humans.”

“Yeah, I heard. But why did you bring my poetic skills before? I think what we did, it’s out of the picture. How does it fit in your agenda?”

He stopped to his tracks and then turned to look at Chastine.

She can now notice his bright blue eyes and almost blond hair glistening in the sun rays. She found it mesmerizing to look at.

In a serious tone, Juste said, “I’m looking for something.”

Chastine was just staring at Juste.

“Hey, something wrong?”

Chastine’s cheeks turned red. She looked away from him.

She then retorted, “uhm, what is it? What’s this thing you’re looking for?”

Juste breathed deeply before he replied, “I’m looking for the cure.”

She became suddenly curious and glanced at him. “Cure? Are you somehow sick? Of what?”

He couldn’t look at Chastine in the eye when he answered her, “I’m looking for the cure to my bloodline’s curse.”

Chastine’s eyes widened in bewilderment.

She wasn’t aware that such thing exists, if it ever exist in the first place.

She didn’t know how to respond properly to Juste. So Juste broke the awkward moment between them.

Glancing back at her, Juste said, “I know what you’re thinking…”

“Uhm, no. I don’t know if you do. I want to help you, Juste.”

Juste’s eyes brightly lit, as if he has been filled with hope.

“I’ll help you, Juste, but on one condition…”

“What is it?” quickly was his reply.

Chastine’s face glowed with determination. “Get me to Nhraim in one piece.”